


Fall With Me For A Million Days

by PrairieChzHead (msannomalley)



Series: Lost Causes [8]
Category: The Trixie Belden Mysteries - Julie Campbell Tatham & Kathryn Kenny
Genre: F/M, Fluff of the bittersweet variety, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-08 01:36:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12853902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msannomalley/pseuds/PrairieChzHead
Summary: Dan and Michelle get married.





	1. Prologue

**March 20, 1974  
Harrisburg, Nebraska**

There was a full moon that night, and it's light shone into the bedroom windows of the small cabin.  The light seemed to make everything it touched glow.  The patches of melting snow in the yard, the thin skin of ice that appeared on the puddles after the sun went down, the creamy skin of the woman lying in the arms of her lover in their bed. 

Michelle sighed because she was content.  She was content because the day after tomorrow, she and Dan were leaving Nebraska for good.  They were leaving and starting their lives over again together.  Together was the important part.  She couldn't imagine her life without him in it.  She was content because she had a man in her life who loved her and wanted to be with her.  She was content because that very night, Dan made love to her passionately and she was still caught up in it's aftermath. 

She wasn't totally content, however.  She wouldn't be completely content until the ranch was a small spot in the rear view mirror of the old green truck as it sped down the highway away from their past and towards their future..

Michelle was drowsy, but she couldn't fall asleep for some reason.  Not even Dan's steady heartbeat could lull her off to sleep tonight.  She lay in his arms, enjoying the feeling of him holding her.  It was so peaceful, something she hadn't felt for quite some time. 

Dan kissed the top of her head.  His fingers slowly trailed up and down her arm.  Michelle thought she could stay like this forever.  It was as close to perfect as she thought it could get. 

"Wanna get married?" Dan asked her, speaking in the soft, almost sleepy way in which people talk after they've made love.  

"Someday," she murmured into his chest.  She was sure of that.  She was sure she was going to marry him.  Someday.  Her reactions to marriage had started at never, then it went to maybe, and now it was at someday. Considering what kind of person she was a few months ago, that was a colossal change in attitude.

His fingers continued their up and down movements over her arm, then after a long pause, he spoke again.  "Someday when?" he asked her. 

"Dunno," she replied.  "Never thought that far ahead." 

There was another pause.  "Wanna do it now?" he asked. 

The peaceful feeling and the calm shattered.  "What?" she asked.  She raised her head to look at him. 

"Wanna get married," he said.  "Now?" 

_He's joking,_ she thought.   _He's got to be._ Michelle propped herself up and she held out her hand.  "Okay, hand over the roach clip, the rolling papers, and whatever grass you got left." 

"I'm serious," he said.  "Do you want to get married?  Now?" 

She searched his face; for it was visible in the moonlight.  "You  _are_  serious," she said.  One look told her that he wasn't joking. 

"Of course I am," he replied.  He propped himself up on his elbow and faced her. 

"Why?" she asked.  "I mean, why now?" 

"I want to make it official," he said. 

"Official?" she asked, puzzled.  In her mind, it already was official. 

"Yeah," he said.  "Official.  I mean, we already live together, right?"  

"Yes," she replied.  "But..."

Dan wouldn't let her finish.  "Doesn't it already feel like we're married?" 

Michelle thought about that.  He did have a point.  They shared a life, a house, and a bed.  The only thing they didn't share was a last name.  And a bank account.  They didn't share a bank account. "Yes," she admitted.  "It does.  But..."

Again, he wouldn't let her finish.  Dan knew what was going through her mind. He knew how she felt about wanting to be Somebody Important.  "You're alreadySomebody," he said.  "You're the most important person in my life, Michelle.  If the rest of the world thinks you're Mrs. Somebody Else, who cares?  They're not important.  You're important." 

Michelle had to admit that he had a point there, too.  He did make her feel like she was the most important person in the world.  "You're not Somebody Else," she said.  "You're the most important person in my life, too." 

He smiled at the compliment.  "Well?" 

Michelle pondered this.  Yes, it did feel like they were married.  They lived together and it was so domestic-y and homey and it felt safe and secure.  Safe and secure.  Those were two things for which she had been searching for nearly sixteen years, and now she had it.  She didn't want to give that up. It was the most secure living arrangement she'd been in since she was eight years old. 

And Dan  _was_ the most important person in her life.  She couldn't imagine her life without him in it anymore.  She didn't want to imagine her life without him in it.  It was simply not an option.  And if it did feel like they were already married, what harm would come if they did make it official?  If it already felt like they were married, things wouldn't be any different if they actually went and did it.  Would they?

Michelle didn't think so.  How could it be different?  Other than people would stop giving them a hard time because they were living in sin, being able to have the same bank account instead of having to deal with two separate ones, and having the same last name, too. 

The same last name.  If she said yes; if she agreed to this, she would have his last name.  Michelle Mangan.  Michelle Lynn Mangan.  Michelle O'Brien Mangan. 

She bounced those around in her head for a little bit.  And it didn't sound half bad to her, either.  If she had to go through life having her identity as a human being attached to someone else, she'd rather be known to other people as Dan Mangan's wife than Dick O'Brien's "hippie" sister.  And on the flip side, Dan might be known as Michelle O'Brien's husband.  It could go both ways.

Correction.  Michelle  _Mangan's_  husband. 

What it all came down to, she realized, in spite of her being enamored with a possible new last name, in spite of the fact that it already felt like she was married to him, was the fact that she loved Dan with all of her heart and all of her soul and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. 

"Well?" Dan asked her.  "Do you want to be June to my Ward?" 

"Can I pass reefer out at the PTA?" she asked, referring to a dream he had a few months ago. 

"No," he said.  "You can't pass reefer out at the PTA."  He pretended to scowl at her.   "As I was saying....Do you want to be Lucy to my Ricky?" 

"I thought it was Ward and June," she said.  

"The Ricardos are more interesting," he replied. 

"Will you sing 'Babaloo'?" she asked. 

"If you want," he replied.  "Although I thought you liked my Jack Jones impression better." 

"Well, you could always do Jack Jones as Ricky Ricardo singing 'Babaloo'," Michelle replied with a grin. 

They both laughed.  "Well?" he asked.  "Do you want to make this official?" 

"I heard that legal sex is boring," she said. 

"I seriously doubt that any sex where you're involved would be boring," he said.  "You can't use that as an excuse." 

"Okay, you got me there," she admitted.  Michelle smiled at him and he could see it in the  moonlight.  "Yes," she said.  "I want to make this official." 

Dan pulled her closer to him, rolling onto his back so she was lying half on top of him. He kissed her.  "I love you, Michelle," he said. 

"I love you, too, Dan," Michelle replied.  "But isn't there supposed to be a ring involved in this?" 

"That's just it," he said sheepishly.  "I couldn't afford to pay cash for an engagement ring.  All I could afford was your wedding ring."

"You bought my wedding ring?" she asked him incredulously.

"Uh, yeah," he said.  "I sort of did.  Anyway,  with us leaving, I couldn't put money down on an engagement ring." 

"That's okay," she assured him.  "The wedding ring is what's more important." 

Dan was relieved to hear that.  He knew that Michelle wasn't much into tradition or much into jewelry, either.  She wore earrings and the ring he gave her for her birthday and that was it.  But when it came to engagement rings and getting married, one could never be too sure. 

"When do you want to do this?" she asked him. 

"As soon as possible," he said. 

"If we do it here," she said.  "We'd have to go through the whole thing with the blood test and waiting for three days and then everyone will automatically assume that you knocked me up..."

"You're not, are you?"

"No," she said.  "I'm not.  I'm on the Pill, remember?" 

Dan sighed with relief.  "Oh good.  No shotgun wedding." 

"Definitely not that," she agreed. 

Then he said, "Vegas.  We can do it in Vegas.  It's on the way and we'll be driving through there anyway." 

"Sin City," she smiled devilishly.  "I like that." 

"I thought you might," he replied with a devilish grin of his own. 


	2. Fall With Me For A Million Days

**Las Vegas, Nevada  
March 24, 1974**

They arrived in Las Vegas the previous night.  As the old green pickup truck made its way down the Strip, Dan looked at all the lights in some sort of awe.  Dan was not easily awestruck, but the lights of the Vegas Strip made him look at them in wonder.  He'd never been here before and Las Vegas had only been some other place he'd seen in pictures or in the movies or heard about in song.  He drove slowly down the Strip, just taking everything in.  Michelle had seen all of this before, and she watched in amusement as Dan looked at all the lights. 

They decided to stay in a cheaper motel for the time being, because they needed to conserve their cash until they got to Los Angeles, got settled and opened a bank account.  They were probably going to end up living in a motel until one of them found a job.  However, they decided to allow themselves to splurge a little bit on their wedding.  As they were driving down the Strip past the casinos and the fancier hotels, Dan said, "Let's stay at one of those for the wedding night."

"I suppose," Michelle replied.  "It's only for one night."  She knew how much those rooms cost for one night, but she also knew what they had in them.  Things like big beds, hot tubs, bars…

They slept in until eight in the morning, which to them felt like nine, since they had just changed time zones.  The first thing they wanted to do was to get the marriage license, so after they ate some breakfast, they went to the courthouse armed with both their driver's licenses and their birth certificates and every intention of getting that marriage license. 

The clerk was a middle aged woman who gushed over the two of them.  Michelle found herself wondering if the gushing was all an act, considering how many people run off to Vegas to get married. 

The clerk pulled out a form.  "I'll need to see some identification," the clerk said.

Dan and Michelle pulled out their driver's licenses and their birth certificates and showed them to the clerk.

"Well," the clerk said.  "You both are certainly old enough to get married.  Now I'll need to know where and when you plan on getting married and who is performing the ceremony." 

Dan and Michelle exchanged glances.  "We don't know that yet," Dan told the clerk. 

"We came here first," Michelle added.

"Well I do need that information for the marriage license," the clerk replied.  "Tell you what.  I'll hang onto this form while you two go out and find a place to have this and a person to perform the ceremony, and when you do, you can come back and we'll finish filling out the form." 

Outside the courthouse, Michelle said, "Where do we start looking?"

"I don't know," Dan replied.  "The phone book?"

"It's a start," Michelle said.  "We could always rip a page out of it, stick it to the wall, throw a dart at it, and go with wherever it lands."

"We don't have darts," Dan said. 

"I know that," Michelle replied.  "I was just kidding."

They decided to drive around for a bit and see what they discovered. 

The first place they stopped at was far too expensive for what they had planned on spending.  "Who'd a thought that eloping could be so expensive?" Michelle remarked.

The second place they stopped at was cute and romantic, but too cute for Michelle's taste.  Inside, a ceremony was underway and they paused to observe the activity.  Dan suddenly noted with dismay the Carpenter's song coming from the speakers in the far corner of the room.  They left rather hurriedly.

The third place they stopped at could only be described as the world's tackiest wedding chapel.  There was no wedding in progress when they got there, but they went inside and looked around.  There was a lot of velvet.  The walls were covered in maroon colored velvet.  The flowers were all plastic.  The faint sounds of slot machines ringing filtered into the room from the small casino that was attached to it.  After you got married, you could go into the other room and gamble. 

Looking around the room, Dan remarked, "Is this a wedding chapel or a bordello?"

For some reason, a reason only known to the bride to be, Michelle fell in love with this tacky little place.  "Let's do it here," she said.

"What?" Dan asked. Then he asked, "Why?"

"Because," she replied.  "It's so 'un'-wedding.  And I can tell everyone we were married in a bordello."  She grinned.  

Now Dan understood why she liked this place.  He knew Michelle well enough by now to know that if everyone else was doing something one way, she had to do it in the most opposite way possible. 

"If this is what you want," he said.  "We can do it here."  He looked at her sheepishly.  "I'm getting kind of sick of looking anyway." 

Michelle laughed, but she stopped when something caught her eye.  It was a painting on one of the side walls.  "Okay," she said.  "We really have to do it here."  She pointed at the picture.  "Look at that," she said before she started laughing.

Dan looked to where Michelle was pointing.  On the side wall was a painting, a black velvet painting.  Hanging on the maroon velvet wall was a painting of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in all his radiance standing over an eighteen wheeler, done on black velvet.  Dan wasn't sure if he should laugh or be offended. 

Dan laughed.  He couldn't help himself. 

"Okay, we'll get married here," he said. 

The happy couple went to the receptionist at the front to work out the details.

"The soonest I can fit you in is on the 26th at two in the afternoon," she said, cracking her gum.

They took the date.

"For fifty dollars more, we can have our Elvis impersonator escort the bride down the aisle."

Elvis was hired.

"If you need witnesses, we can provide them for you," the receptionist said in between cracking her gum.

"We'll need witnesses," Michelle told her.

"What kind of music do you have?" Dan asked the receptionist.

"We have recorded music," she said.  "You can pick from this list."  She handed Dan several sheets of paper stapled together.  "You can pick two songs.  Any more than that costs extra." 

Dan and Michelle put their heads together and looked over the list.  "How about this one?" he asked, pointing to the line that said "Michelle" by the Beatles.

"No," Michelle replied.  "I don't like that song."

"You don't?" Dan asked.  "Why not?"

"When you get stared at by people every time it comes on, you'd hate it, too," she said.  "It's the name thing." 

Remembering the fact that Elton John sang a song called "Daniel", Dan decided to drop the subject.

"That's usually one that people pay extra for," the receptionist put in.  "There's always the Carpenters," she suggested.

"NO," Dan and Michelle said emphatically at the same time. 

"I'm not listening to some crap-ass Carpenters' song at my wedding," Dan said. 

"Not a Carpenters' fan, I take it," the receptionist said.

"He despises the Carpenters," Michelle told her.  "Hey," she said.  "They've got 'Stairway to Heaven'!"

"I know how much you like Zeppelin, but that song is eight minutes long, Michelle," Dan said. 

"You've got a point there," she said.

"There's always that one we heard in the truck the other day," Dan said.

"Which one?" Michelle asked. 

"That one that went, 'We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun'."

"No," she said. 

"Why not?" Dan asked her.

"One, because it's about some guy dying.  Two, it has my name in it.  And three, it's a really stupid song."  She gave Dan a look that suggested he was out of his mind for even thinking of that song.

"I was just kidding," Dan replied.  "What else could we have?"

"'Lola'?" Michelle asked.

"You're kidding, right?" Dan asked.

"Yes, I'm kidding," Michelle replied.

"Well," the receptionist said, cracking her gum again.  "If you're undecided, there are always the old standbys of 'Here Comes the Bride' and Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March'."

"What's that one?" Michelle asked.

"The one they play at the end," the receptionist said.

Michelle looked at Dan.  "What do you think?" she asked. 

"I suppose those are okay," he said.  "But what do you think of them?"

"I can live with them," she said. 

Once the arrangements were made, Dan and Michelle headed back to the courthouse to finish getting their marriage license.  The clerk filled out the form and after Dan handed her the money, she told them that their license would be ready for them the next day. 

Other than that little minor glitch, Dan and Michelle had come to Vegas prepared.  They had their wedding clothes and they had the rings.  The day after Dan proposed, Michelle had taken him up to Scottsbluff to the jeweler's to get his ring.  They decided to forsake buying new clothes for the wedding, opting to wear what they wore when they went out for Michelle's birthday in January.  But this time, the little white jacket that went with Michelle's dress would stay back at the motel. 

On the way back to their motel, they drove past a tattoo parlor.  Dan said, "I've always wanted a tattoo."

"Why?" Michelle asked. 

"I don't know," he replied.  "I've always wanted one."

"Why didn't you get one done before?" she asked him.

"Didn't have the money for it," he said.  "Or the time."

"What would you get if you could get one done?"

"Don't know," he said.  Then he asked her, "What do you think about tattoos?"

"Never thought about them," she replied.  "It's just something that some people get done."    

"So you don't hate them or anything," he said. 

"No," she said.  "Are you thinking of actually doing it?"

"I'm asking hypothetically," he said.  "I just wanted your opinion, though.  I wouldn't do it if you won't like it." 

The next day Dan and Michelle had no plans other than picking up the marriage license.  They went back to the courthouse to do that.  Then they drove over to the Sands Hotel to see if they could get a room for their wedding night.  They were able to get one.  The hotel clerk told them they could check in any time after ten in the morning. 

After that, the day was pretty much theirs, so they decided to take a drive into Arizona and visited the Grand Canyon.  Since it wasn't summer, they were actually able to get into the park and Michelle brought the camera along, so they got pictures.  She persuaded a passing tourist to take some pictures of her and Dan together standing in front of the canyon. 

It was evening when they got back to Vegas.  During the ride back, Dan said to her, "I suppose you don't like that 'Arizona' song, either." 

"What 'Arizona' song?" Michelle replied. Then it dawned on her.  "Oh, that one," she said.  "'Arizona, hey won't you go my way?'"  She looked down and up again.  "That's how I got that name."

"Because of that song?" Dan asked her.

"Yep," Michelle replied, looking down at her feet as they rested on the truck floor.  "One of the guys in Barry's band said that song reminded him of me."  She looked up and out the window at the passing scenery.  The last thing she wanted to think about was memories of the past. 

"Oh," Dan said quietly.  He realized that he treaded into territory that Michelle didn't want to revisit.  Territory much like his gang days and his days in Vietnam. 

Dan put some Deep Purple into the truck's 8-track player and they listened to that on the way back to Vegas.

**March 26 th, 1974**

Michelle O'Brien, soon to be Mangan, was not a woman who thought much of tradition.  Tradition was old fashioned.  There was no logic, at least in her mind, to do something just because someone years ago said you were supposed to do it that way.  It did not bother her at all that she woke up at eight on her wedding day in the arms of the man, who in six hours, would become her husband.  It did not bother her that, despite the fact she had not been a virgin in years, she was wearing a white dress today.  Nor did it bother her that she lacked something new, borrowed, blue, and the sixpence for her shoe. 

When she woke up that morning, and the gravity of what she was about to do that day hit her, she was bothered by something else.

It bothered her that today, when she walked down the aisle of the Chapel of Love Wedding Chapel and Casino, she would be taking the arm of a guy who pretended to be the King of Rock and Roll for a living instead of taking the arm of her father. 

It bothered her that, even though she was going to wear a string of pearls that had belonged to her mother, her mother wouldn't be there to put them on her. 

It bothered Michelle that her parents could not be there to watch her on the most important day of her life.

All morning, while the two of them were packing up their things to take to the Sands, Michelle was quiet.  She was lost in her thoughts and she was nervous.  It felt to her as if an entire swarm of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach and were flying around madly.  She wasn't nervous about the idea of getting married.  She still believed that signing the paper and exchanging the jewelry was just a formality and nothing between her and Dan would change.  She was nervous about the ceremony part.  What if she was overcome with a sudden attack of clumsiness and tripped on the way down the aisle?  Or worse yet, what if she opened her mouth to say the vows and nothing would come out?

As they got settled into the new hotel, Dan decided that he was hungry and he wanted to get something to eat.  Michelle told him she wasn't hungry. 

"You should probably eat something," he said to her.  "I don't want you fainting on me later."  His voice held a teasing note in it.

Michelle only shrugged in reply. 

Dan noticed how quiet she was and had been all morning. "Are you okay?" he asked her. 

"I'm fine," she said 

Dan didn't think she was okay.  She seemed to be so preoccupied with something.  He hoped that she wasn't getting cold feet all of a sudden.

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet," he joked.

"No," she replied.  "I'm not."

"Then what is it?" he asked.  "You're so quiet."

Michelle looked down at the floor.  "I wish Mom and Dad were here," she said quietly. 

"I know, baby," he said.  He drew her closer to him and held her.  "I wish my mom and dad were here, too." 

A little later, it was time to get ready.  Michelle claimed the bathroom for herself and while she was inside getting changed and doing whatever else it was women did, Dan also got ready.  Not surprisingly, Dan was ready first.  While he waited for her to emerge from the bathroom, Dan checked his wallet.  He pulled out the bills and started counting them.  Good.  He had enough cash for later and enough cash for a few things he wanted to do after the wedding.  The box with Michelle's ring sat in his jacket pocket.  He gave it a reassuring pat.

While he was waiting, he thought about calling his uncle to tell him that he was getting married today.  A glance at the clock told Dan that it was around noon, which meant it was around two back in New York.  Or was it three?  Either way, Uncle Bill was working and Dan didn't have the number for the office phone with him.  He could call later on, when he knew his uncle would be at his apartment over the Wheeler's garage. 

Finally, Michelle came out of the bathroom and Dan was struck dumb.  She was wearing the white dress she had worn when they went out for her birthday, but this time she wasn't wearing the jacket.  The dress fit her figure well.  It was held up on her shoulders by two white straps that were about an inch wide, showing off her shoulders.  The neckline was square and there was the slightest hint of cleavage showing.  Dan thought it was a good thing that they weren't getting married in a church.  At least in this regard. 

Michelle had gathered some of her hair at the sides and at the crown and pulled it back, gathering it and tying it off with a white ribbon.  The rest of it hung loose in auburn waves over her shoulders and down her back.  She also wore a pearl necklace and matching earrings, ones that had belonged to her mother.  Before Dan and Michelle left Nebraska, Mary had given Michelle a box of things that had belonged to Michelle's mother.  The necklace and earrings were in that box. 

"Wow," he finally said.  "You're beautiful!"

"Thank you," she replied, smiling shyly at him.  "You don't look so bad yourself." 

After taking the sight of the other one in for a bit, Dan said, "We should probably get going."

"It's not even one yet," Michelle replied. 

"That's okay," Dan said.  "There are a few stops I have to make first."

"What for?" Michelle asked.

"You," he replied.  "Need a bouquet.  And I'm still hungry."

Dan stopped at a Mc Donald's to get himself some food.  Michelle didn't want any.  "I couldn't eat anything," she said to him when he offered her a French fry.  "It will all come back up if I do."

"Nervous?" he asked. 

"About the ceremony…yeah," she replied.  "I'm surprised you aren't."

"I'm Dan the Man," he replied.  "I'm too cool to be nervous."  The glint in his eye told her that he was joking around.

"Uh-huh," Michelle said, also jokingly.  "Whatever you say."  

The second stop was not to get flowers.  Dan pulled up in front of a church.  The building looked much like those adobe buildings that they had seen a lot of in the Southwest, but the cross and the stained glass windows told them it was a Catholic church.  Without saying a word, Dan took Michelle's hand and he led her to the door.  Before going in, he stopped, took off his suit jacket and he draped it over Michelle's shoulders.  Then he took her hand again and led her inside.

Like Dan, Michelle had also been raised Catholic.  Also like Dan, it had been a long time since she actually set foot in a church.  The last time she remembered being inside one was one Christmas Eve a few years back when she went back to Nebraska for the holidays.  Michelle had issues with religion, issues that went back to Miss Brunner.  She went through the classes to get confirmed, but after that, she only went to church twice before she stopped going all together. 

Dan's jacket went past her wrists and she had to push the sleeves up.  They were in front of a table, a table that held many, many small, votive candles.  Above the candles was a picture of the Virgin Mother. 

Michelle didn't have to ask why Dan stopped here.  She knew why. 

Dan took a taper and lit two of the candles.  Wordlessly, he gave the taper to Michelle and she also lit two candles.  They knelt down and became lost in their own thoughts.  Then both of them made the sign of the cross and stood up.  Once they were back outside, they stood in front of the church, holding each other. 

Finally, Dan said, "Let's go."

This time, they stopped at a flower shop and Dan invited Michelle to pick out whatever bouquet she wanted.  She picked one that was made up of roses, white and red roses.  While Dan was paying for it, Michelle said, "You need one, too." 

"A bouquet?" Dan said.  "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not carrying a bouquet of flowers."

"No," she replied, smiling.  "One for your lapel.  You need one of those." 

"A boutonnière," the clerk supplied helpfully. 

"Yeah," Michelle agreed.  "What she said.  You need one of those." 

Dan agreed and suggested that Michelle to pick it out for him.  She picked out a white rose and after he paid for the flowers, she pinned it onto his jacket.  When they were outside the store, Dan looked at Michelle.  "What do you say we go and get married?"  He held out his hand. 

"Yeah," she said, looking at him steadily.  "Let's get married."  She put her hand in his and they walked to the truck.

On the twenty-sixth of March, in the year nineteen hundred and seventy four, at precisely 2:20 (because the couple scheduled before them insisted on using up three rolls of film) in the afternoon at the Chapel of Love Wedding Chapel and Casino, Michelle Lynn O'Brien took the proffered arm of the Elvis Impersonator and he walked her down the small aisle to a scratchy recording of "Here Comes The Bride". Daniel Timothy Mangan waited for her and watched her as she came closer towards him. They smiled nervously at each other. When she reached the front, the Elvis Impersonator gave her hand to Dan, and then he took his spot as Best Man. Behind Michelle, in the Maid of Honor's spot, was the receptionist, who was snapping her gum.

Michelle took Dan's arm instead because she didn't want him to know that her palms were a little sweaty at the moment. Dan's suit felt itchy and he was trying not to scratch.

The officiant opened a book and began reading.

"We are gathered together to join..." The officiant paused to glance over at some notes. "Daniel and Michelle in the bonds of matrimony. Marriage is a sacred institution and one not to be entered into lightly. Therefore, if either of you can show any reason why you should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

The officiant was greeted with silence. He cleared his throat. "In other words, it's not too late to back out of this," he joked. He was greeted with two "Would you just get on with this" looks from the bride and groom. The receptionist continued to crack her gum.

"Okay," the officiant said, looking down at his book. He turned to Dan.

"Daniel, will you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Will you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her for as long as you both shall live?"

Dan looked down at Michelle, who was looking up at him. He looked back at the officiant, then at Michelle again, and said, "I will."

The officiant turned to Michelle. "Michelle," he said. "Will you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? Will you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful only to him for as long as you both shall live?"

Michelle looked up at Dan when she said, "I will." She smiled at him and he suddenly forgot about his itchy suit.

The officiant instructed Dan to take Michelle's right hand into his right hand. He didn't notice her sweaty palms. He didn't notice anything except her and he thought of nothing except what exactly she meant to him.  She brought light into his life when it seemed so dark.  When he thought he had lost himself, she showed him he hadn't.  She took on his burdens as if they were her own and she tried to help him unburden himself.  She listened to him when he needed to talk, she held him when he needed to cry, she stood up for him when he couldn't stand up for himself.  She understood where he was coming from and where he wanted to go.  She was his best friend.  When he spoke those words to her, he looked into her blue eyes and he meant every word of what he was saying because he loved her so much.

"I, Daniel, take you, Michelle, to be my wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and to love and to cherish 'til death do us part."

Michelle felt herself start to tear up a little and thought to herself that no, she wasn't going to start crying and turn into some blubbering idiot. She took a deep breath as the officiant told her to take Dan's right hand into hers. She thought it would be hard to look right at him when she was to speak, but it wasn't. It wasn't, because she thought of everything that Dan meant to her.  He made her feel wanted and cherished and important.  He did not judge her nor did he put her down for what she was.  He let her cry on his shoulder when she needed to cry.  He understood where she was coming from and where she wanted to go.  He understood things no one else could.  He held her up when she couldn't stand on her own.  He was her champion, her confidant, and her best friend.  She loved him more than life itself.  When she did start  to speak, her voice caught, but she steadied it.

"I, Michelle, take you, Daniel, to be my husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, and to love and to cherish 'til death do us part."  She smiled up at him. 

"Good," the officiant smiled as the receptionist snapped her gum. "Do you have rings?" he asked. They said they did and they handed them to the officiant when he asked for them. The he spoke again.

"The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two loyal hearts in endless love. It is a seal of the vows Daniel and Michelle have made to one another. Bless these rings, that Daniel and Michelle, who give them, and who wear them, may ever abide in peace. Living together in unity, love and happiness for the rest of their lives."

Then he turned to Dan again and instructed him to take Michelle's left hand and place the ring on her finger. "I give you this ring," Dan said. "As a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you."

Michelle was then instructed to take Dan's left hand and do the same. "I give you this ring," she said. "As a symbol of our vows, and with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you." She slid the ring onto his finger, but there was some trouble getting it over his knuckle. She got it onto his finger all the way and the officiant cracked, "Now you can never take it off."

Then he got serious again and turned back to his book. "In as much as you have pledged to each other your lifelong commitment, love and devotion, and in accordance with the laws of the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Those whom have been brought together, let no one separate." He looked over to Dan and said, "You may now kiss the bride."

Dan looked at Michelle, who had tears in her eyes, but was smiling.  He smiled back at her and said, "I love you." 

"I love you, too," she whispered. 

He leaned down and kissed her and she slid her arms around his neck in that way he loved so much.  They kept kissing each other, even as the receptionist dropped the needle on a scratchy recording of Mendelssohn's "Wedding March".  Neither Dan nor Michelle noticed. 

Everything was going to be all right. From now on, everything would be all right because they had each other. And now, it was official.

After the marriage license was signed and the pictures were taken with the bride's Instamatic, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Mangan left the Chapel of Love Wedding Chapel and Casino, not bothering to stop in the casino. Out in the parking lot, in front of the truck, Dan kissed Michelle again. "I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," she replied. "But I'm starving." Now that the ceremony was over and the butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach and prevented her from eating anything beforehand had disappeared, Michelle was very, very hungry.

"Later," he said. "There's something I want to do first."

"Can we pick up something to snack on?" she asked. "I don't think I can wait."

They got in the truck and drove until they found a grocery store and Michelle bought a bag of Cheetos for herself and Dan in case he wanted any. Outside the store, she plunked some change into a vending machine to get a can of Coke. Then Dan drove on until he found the tattoo parlor they had driven past the day before yesterday.

"What are you doing?" she asked him, sort of amused. They were standing in front of the door.

"You'll see," was all he said. He opened the door.

Dan talked to the guy who was in the place for a few minutes while Michelle stood by with her bag of Cheetos, her can of Coke, and her bouquet. Then the guy, a big man who looked like he could have been a member of the Hell's Angels, told Dan to sit down, while he went to get some things ready. Michelle found herself a chair.

"You're getting a tattoo?" she asked. "You're really going to do it?"

"I told you, I've always wanted one," he said.

"What are you going to get?" she asked him. She hoped it wasn't The Dancing Mermaid. She didn't want to have to look at that one every time Dan took his shirt off.  The image of Dan, middle aged, in front of a room full of people, pulling up his shirt and making the mermaid permanently inked on his stomach dance kind of horrified her.  And she didn't care to have it staring back at her every time she went down on him, either.

"You'll see," he said cryptically.

The guy came back and told Dan to take off the suit coat and roll up his shirt sleeve. The shirt sleeve wouldn't go up far enough, so Dan had to take off the tie and the dress shirt. Michelle was relieved when she heard the guy tell Dan to roll up his t-shirt sleeve and not remove the t-shirt.

The guy got his inks and his needles ready and while he did that, he gave Dan a piece of paper and a pencil and asked him to draw something out for him. Michelle opened her bag of Cheetos and started eating them. Michelle couldn't see what Dan was drawing on the paper.

The Hell's Angel's Tattoo Artist started working on Dan's arm. The room filled with the buzzing sound of the needle as the tattoo began to appear. If this was hurting Dan, he was doing a good job of covering up his discomfort. Michelle wanted to see what the tattoo artist was doing, but Dan's muscular frame blocked her view

It took a good two hours before the Hell's Angel's Tattoo Artist finished his creation. Michelle had finished off the entire bag of Cheetos while she watched. The can of Coke was empty, too. But she was still hungry.

When the Hell's Angel's Tattoo Artist declared it finished, Dan looked at his arm and he appeared to be satisfied with the results. Then he beckoned to Michelle, "Come see it."

Michelle got up and went over to Dan to see what he now had permanently drawn on his arm. Her eyes widened in surprise. On Dan's left bicep was a heart. A solid red heart emblazoned by the words written in black: Dan & Michelle. 3-26-74

"What do you think?" he asked her.

"That's so sweet," she said. Michelle leaned down to kiss him and when she touched his cheek with her fingers, she left Cheeto dust there. "You know what this means, don't you?" she asked him.

"What?" Dan asked, wiping the Cheeto dust from his cheek.

"It means that you can't ever forget our wedding anniversary," she said. "You have no excuse now."

"She's right, you know," the Hell's Angel's Tattoo Artist put in with a raspy chuckle.

"Like I would ever forget it," Dan said. He got up and put his shirt back on. He put the tie back on because Michelle asked him to, but he wore it loose and the top button of his shirt was opened. "But you like it?" he asked her.

"I love it," she said. She walked over to the sink to wash the Cheeto dust from her fingers. "And I'm very happy you didn't get the Dancing Mermaid tattooed on your stomach."

"Well," he said to her teasingly. "I could always get that one next time. I'd be such a hit at parties."

"Do it and I'll go and get one of those Nevada quickie divorces," she threatened him. She tried to make the words sound ominous, but she was grinning while she said them.

"So I guess that means no then," Dan said, pretending to be disappointed. He pulled out his wallet to pay for his new tattoo.

"If you ever want to see me naked again," Michelle replied, grinning.

"Will you listen to her?" Dan said to the tattoo guy. "Married for about three hours and she's already bossing me around."

"I don't hear you complaining," Michelle said, before she kissed Dan on the cheek. "Let's go," she told him.

The newlyweds had their first meal as husband and wife at one of Las Vegas's many cheap, all you can eat buffets. The place was busy and filled with the tourists who had come to see Wayne Newton and gamble. Dan and Michelle wanted to find a table in the corner that afforded a little privacy, but those were all taken. Instead, they ended up sitting near the buffet where everyone could see, but as they ate, the rest of the world seemed to disappear.

Michelle had a piece of cake, a sinfully delicious slice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. She took her fork and cut two small pieces from the larger one as Dan watched her. "Take one," she told him. Dan did so, but he looked at her questioningly. "You're supposed to feed each other cake when you get married," Michelle said. "It's tradition."

"I thought you hated tradition," he said.

"This one I don't mind," she said. "It's kind of sexy," she added with smile.  She raised up her piece of cake and Dan did the same and they fed it to each other, oblivious to the other patrons around them, until one middle aged woman with teased up hair exclaimed loudly, "Oh look, Howard! Isn't that just sweet? Look at them!  Aren't newlyweds just so sweet?"

As Dan leaned over the table to kiss Michelle, Howard only muttered something about kids these days not knowing how to behave in public.

"Oh, you're just an old stick in the mud," the woman with the teased hair said. "I think it's just sweet." She sighed dreamily. "Look how they can't take their eyes off each other." She sighed again. "Howard? Are you looking?"

"I'm looking, Ethel," Howard muttered.

Michelle started giggling. "Daniel!" Michelle said, in a dead-on imitation of the woman, but in a volume only Dan could hear. "Are you looking, Daniel?"

"Michelle," Dan scolded her.  "That's not very nice." 

"You're right," she said.  "It's not.  So what do you think they'll be doing while they're here in Vegas?" she wondered. 

Dan said, "I bet they're going out to see either Wayne, Englebert, or Robert Goulet."

"My money's on Wayne," Michelle replied. "I bet she tries to throw her underwear at him, too."

"Michelle!" Dan exclaimed. 

"What?" she replied.  "That's what women do at those shows.  They throw their big old granny underpants up on stage." 

"Michelle!" Dan exclaimed again.  "Thank you for placing in my head the mental image of some middle-aged woman with her hair in rollers, wearing a loud and flowery muumuu, and waving her underwear around."  He shuddered. 

"That's for the mental image you put in my head back at the tattoo parlor," Michelle replied. 

"What mental image?" he asked. 

"The one of you middle-aged, balding, and with a comb-over, I might add.  You're wearing plaid pants and you have a big old gut and you're pulling up your shirt to make the mermaid on your stomach dance," she said smugly.

"But you're standing off to the side, watching me in admiration," Dan said.  "And you're hair is in rollers and you're wearing a loud and flowery muumuu, while waving a big old pair of granny underpants around.  Then you toss them at me because you think I'm so hot."  He looked at her earnestly.

"Dan!" Michelle exclaimed.  She started laughing in spite of herself. 

They stayed at the buffet until around seven.  Howard and Ethel decided to stay at least that long as well.  When Dan and Michelle got up to leave, Michelle picked up her bouquet, which was lying on the table the entire time they were there.  She plucked one rose from it for herself and then handed the rest of the flowers to a very surprised Ethel. 

When they got in the truck, Dan asked, "What do you want to do now?"

"I don't know," Michelle said.  "It's kind of early to go back to the hotel." 

"We could go back anyway," Dan said.  "We've got all night."  He smiled at her suggestively..

"We could," Michelle replied.  She smiled back at him in the same suggestive way. 

When they got back to their hotel, Dan insisted on following tradition by picking up Michelle and carrying her over the threshold.  After he set her down, he pulled her into a long kiss. 

"Have I told you that I love you?" he asked her when the kiss broke.

"Yes," she replied.  "Several times in fact.  But that's okay because I never get tired of hearing it." 

"Good," he said.  Then he broke from the embrace to remove his suit jacket.  She excused herself for a moment and went to the bathroom to take her hair down and fix it up a bit.  While she was gone, he picked up the phone to call the front desk. 

"I got us champagne," he told her when she returned.  "The expensive, good kind." 

"Oh," she said, pleased. 

It didn't take long for the champagne to arrive.  A bellhop brought it up in a bucket and also brought two glasses.  The bell hop did the honors for the happy couple and poured it for them.  Then he left.  The newlyweds sat at the foot of the huge bed.  Dan took a glass and handed it to Michelle. 

"We never had a toast," he said.

"Isn't someone else supposed to do that?" she asked.

"Who cares?" he replied.  Then he cleared his throat in a mock-serious way.  He raised his glass slightly.  "Here's to us," he said.  "May the sex never get boring, may we be known as the 'cool' parents when we have kids..."

"What do you mean 'when' we have kids?" Michelle asked.

"Let me finish," Dan replied.  "May we still listen to rock and roll when we're old and in our rocking chairs, may we never turn into frumpy, uncool people in our middle age..."

"These kids today with their long hair and their pet rocks and their streaking--", Michelle said.

"I'm not finished yet," Dan interrupted.  "May we not get five toasters for wedding presents..."

"Now you're running out of things to say," Michelle said. 

"You got me," Dan replied with a grin.  Then he grew serious.  "Here's to us," he said.  "Together forever." 

Michelle raised her glass and touched the rim to his glass.  "Together forever," she said softly. 

They drank and then they kissed again, a slow, lingering kiss.  He set his glass down to frame her face with his hands.  "I love you so much, Michelle Mangan," he said to her. 

Michelle was not accustomed to hearing her new name.  She realized that this was the first time she heard someone say it and she thought that it was fitting that the first person she heard say her new name was her husband.  She smiled at Dan.  Her husband. 

"I love you, Dan Mangan," she said to him softly before she kissed him. 

When they stopped, he got up and he found where he stashed their radio earlier that day.  It was the portable radio Michelle bought for the truck before their trip to Denver. He plugged it in and turned it on and then he flipped through the stations until he found what he was looking for.  Then he held a hand out to Michelle.  His wife. 

"Dance with me," he said. 

She obliged him.  She stood up and took the hand he offered to her.  He pulled her close to him and she slid both her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her waist and they started swaying slowly to the song that filled the room. 

They didn't have much materially, but they had the love they felt for each other and they had a life they shared and would share for a long, long time.  Together forever.  

And now it was official.

**Author's Note:**

> The title of the song comes from a lyric in the Jimi Hendrix song May This Be Love. It's almost impossible to find a You Tube video of this song that is not a cover. But it is on Spotify, so if you want, you can have a listen. https://open.spotify.com/track/1Y6Dv0tWYUP3Za2Es9FUL2
> 
> I'm pretty sure that most of the streaming services have this song. It is from the album "Are You Experienced?" 
> 
> The "Arizona song" is "Arizona" by Mark Lindsay. This one is on You Tube and you can listen here if you're curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPb21szSW9k


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